Our Own New Rockette
This holiday season, Freehold’s Jordan Powell is helping an iconic dance team celebrate a century of high kicks.
Freehold native Jordan Powell will be eye-high kicking it like the rest of the world-renowned Rockettes lineup for this season’s Christmas Spectacular, and she says she’s honored to make her debut during the team’s centennial year. But Powell, now 25 and living in Jersey City, confesses that Radio City Music Hall— the Rockettes’ home since 1932—wasn’t her childhood dream. “I knew the caliber of dancing, but I didn’t think it was possible for me,” she says.
She always planned on becoming a professional dancer—in her words, making it a practice to put her “best foot forward,” but the ambition to be a Rockette only hit her after college, when friends told of exciting encounters with the team.
“They were telling me about their experiences on the line, and that’s when I was like, ‘Wow! This is something I would love to do as well.’ Seeing the show [after college], I saw firsthand the athleticism and artistry and felt the joy of dance and of the Christmas Spectacular and wanted to be a part of that,” she recalls.
In an interview days before the show’s Nov. 6 reopening, Powell said, “I’m really excited about performing ‘Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,’ a classic piece. The choreography hasn’t changed since it premiered, and performing it as we mark 100 years is really cool.” She’s also thrilled to be part of the centennial celebration that will feature “fun ways to interact and learn about the history of the Rockettes,” which started out as the Missouri Rockets in St. Louis in 1925.
For the show, which runs through Jan. 5, Powell anticipates a measure of hometown support, including family and friends still living in Freehold. Besides supportive parents, she has a huge fan in her grandmother, who used to live in New York and made the Christmas Spectacular her annual tradition.
“Everyone has been really excited,” says Powell, “and it has felt like something bigger than myself, because I’ve had friends from childhood, teachers from the past all cheering me on. It made me proud to represent Monmouth County in that way.”
Of course, conquering the auditions wasn’t a guarantee even for a dedicated dancer who had donned her first ballet slippers at age 5. Jitters ran high as she waited for an acceptance phone call. She had already gone through an open-call audition lasting three days and then the Rockettes Conservatory Program, an invitation-only week of instruction emphasizing the team’s precision choreography: a strong foundation of ballet, tap and jazz, as well as strength and stamina training. “Learning more about the Rockettes’ style and interacting with the dance captains and team made me want even more to audition inside Radio City Music Hall,” she says. “They made it even more of a dream for me.” With that courage she took on the final and decisive audition that did gain her that phone call.
Joyous as that call was, there was no time to rest on laurels, because practice is rigorous. “We have been rehearsing since the end of September, six days a week, and working to put together the nine routines you’ll see in the Christmas Spectacular,” Powell explains. “It’s a quick, fast-paced process and some long days. Building my stamina has been challenging, but at the same time, feeling encouraged and supported by my fellow Rockettes has uplifted me and made me feel the community.”
Her first day as a Rockette was filled with “pinch me” moments as the athleticism of the dancers—and now her among them—proved nothing short of “phenomenal.” As she relays, “When I saw the first kick line during rehearsals, I was in awe of the power of the wo men I had admired from afar—and now, I was dancing alongside them. It was another ‘wow’ moment realizing that I’m now part of the Rockette legacy and will get to experience firsthand the rigor, community and joy that come with it.”
She noted that the legacy of the Rockettes’ sisterhood is not hype, but a real sense of camaraderie that spurred her on, along with the support of family and friends, whenever she doubted or felt overwhelmed. “I would keep reminding myself that I have come this far,” she says, “and that I’ve put in the work and gone through the auditions and was meant to be in this place.”
Good thing, because Powell never had a Plan B. Dance is the only career she’s ever imagined. She combined dance and academics at Howell High School’s Fine and Performing Arts Magnet Program and the University of Southern California, graduating in 2022. Then it was back to the East Coast, living in NYC and working with contemporary dance companies to maintain her skills.
With her dedication about to pay off, Powell says, “I feel really blessed that I was able to dream of dancing and picture only that for myself.” Ten years from now, no surprise, she says, “I hope to still be dancing and to give back to my community as well. So many people have poured a lot into me.”
She especially thanks three dance studios for shaping her progress: Project Dance in Eatontown under the direction of Elysha Richman, Dance Mixx Studio in Tinton Falls and Dancin on the Edge in Manalapan.
Because even a dedicated Rockette needs some down time, Powell loves kicking it with family and friends, perhaps enjoying a Broadway show on the other side of the curtain. Despite her cemented ties to Freehold, she finds her new home in Jersey City is the “perfect place for me to rest and recharge.” And if you see someone immersed in a book at a local park, it just might be our Rockette.
